Harry Potter: Different Beginnings
by Worldwriter
Summary: Harry Potter's journey through Hogwarts imagined differently. Slightly different to but has most of the key events from the canon books. Smarter/Stronger Harry. If you find any mistakes please do let me know. The pairing is undecided.
1. The beginnning

**I know that this may not be what you wanted but after my document for the second chapter of Beyond the best was deleted I thought I needed a break from Pokemon fanfictions, so why not do a Harry Potter one. Let's start!**

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A young boy - no older than eleven - stood in front of a scarlet steam engine with a sign that read Hogwarts Express, a trunk - which was full of school books, school equipment - in one hand and a cage with a snowy owl - who he named Hedwig after finding a name in one of his school books - sleeping inside in the other. Harry looked at the train to see that most of the carriages were already full before dragging his trunk off the platform and making his way to the back of the train to find an empty compartment. Once he had found an empty carriage, he put Hedwig's cage inside the train first and pulled his trunk in after... though miserably failing and possibly breaking his toe. Harry pulled out his wand, trying to remember the charm he'd been practising the night before, which made things float. He tried to recall the spell, "Win... Wingardium? Wingardium... Leviosa? Yeah, Wingardium Leviosa!" Harry pointed his wand at the trunk and cast the charm causing it to float, he slightly flicked his wand backwards and the trunk dropped onto the floor of the train, which he quickly boarded. He smiled to himself realising that he successfully cast a charm. He and started thinking: about what this new school was going to be like; about what subjects they'd teach; or about possible friends he could make - that is if he made any.

Suddenly, he was snapped out of his thoughts hearing a bang on the compartment door. He turned to see a brunette, with curly hair and already wearing the school robes, knocking on the compartment door. He made a gesture to come in and the girl opened the door and sat in the seat opposite to Harry.

"You don't mind me sitting with you, right?" she asked Harry, in a slightly nervous tone.

"No. Actually, I feel flattered that you chose to sit with me. It would get quite lonely without anyone to talk to, well I could reread one of the school books but it would still feel lonely."

The brunette's eyes widened when he mentioned reading the school books, "You read the school books too? You're the first person I've met on this train that's read one of the school books. I think we'll get along well..."

"Harry Potter, and you are?"

"Harry Potter, you appear everywhere in the school books - even in the extra books, I bought. Oh, and to answer your first question my name's Hermione Granger."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hermione," Harry said, "Please don't expect too much prowess from me in magic, I've only known about the wizarding world since the start of summer."

"Me too! Neither of my parents knew about wizarding, and it was such a surprise when we got the letter - though they encouraged me to enrol, and here I am now. I guess we're both new to the wizarding world, except everyone will expect _way_ more skill from you. Especially from Slytherin, from I've heard at least."

The last bit intrigued Harry, " What do you mean? You have as equal a chance to become the 'greatest sorcerer that's ever lived' as anyone else."

"Not in the eyes of a large chunk of the wizarding community, have you ever heard about blood supremacy? According to one of the extra books I bought at Diagon Alley, the pureblood community believes some rather racial things: if a wizard or witch's parents are both wizards the wizard or witch is stronger then say another who only has one family member that knows of the wizarding world - and in my case much stronger than one who has no family members that are either a witch or a wizard. But thankfully not all wizards who have pureblood believe in blood supremacy: Dumbledore, for example, has treated everyone equally but, then again, what do you expect from the leader of the light and Chief Warlock of Wizengamot - which, if you're wondering, is to do with the politics of the wizarding world."

"You did a lot of extensive research about the wizarding world haven't you," Harry laughed as she nodded. He then noticed that he was so engrossed in their conversation that he hadn't noticed the train was almost out of London.

"So how about we change the topic to our lives, I mean we barely know each other, so you go first,"

Harry cringed, losing his balance and almost collapsing from remembering all the torture he'd endured for as long as he could remember. Hermione noticed this quickly, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to after all, from your reaction I doubt that you've had the best childhood - actually judging from your reaction I doubt you had a normal childhood."

"No, no it's fine but you're right about me not having a normal childhood. There are lots of reasons I hated my childhood: First off, as I'm sure you'd know from all the books, I'm an orphan and the people that took care of me - my aunt and uncle - weren't the nicest people you'd meet; secondly, I was forced to become a slave and had to learn how to cook, do the laundry and clean the house - at the age of five; thirdly, my uncle beat me for almost any reason such as getting a higher score then my cousin, not making adequate food - when I was still five making no effort to teach me -, or for simply existing; fourthly, I was bullied and teased because my cousin bullied the rest of the school into turning against me; and finally, I've never made a friend that stayed with me for more than a day - because of reason four - so, in other words, you're my first friend."

"I doubt that most of the people on this train, if not the country, can't say they've had a shitter life then yours - excuse the bad language but you get what I mean. The only bad thing about my life was that I was bullied for reading, and always retreating to my library of books. I also didn't make many friends but that was because I was more of an introvert than a socialite."

"I guess that makes two of us," Harry said earning a small smile from the brunette.

They the turned to the door, hearing it slide open and seeing a smiling, dimpled woman. "Anything off the cart, dears?" she said.

Harry jumped to his feet, due to not having breakfast, causing Hermione to giggle. She got up and they both looked at what the cart had to offer: Bettie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes and Liquorice Wands. Harry got a few of everything, deciding to try the delicacies of the wizarding world, whilst Hermione simply bought a Pumpkin Pasty, two Cauldron Cakes and a few Liquorice Wands. Harry paid for both of them and they both re-entered their compartment and looked at what they bought.

"It seems you've got a sweet tooth," Harry said taking a bite out of his pumpkin pasty, "Hmmm, this is better than I thought it'd it be."

"You must be hungry!" Hermione said, snacking on a few of the liquorice wands.

"You have no idea!" Harry said taking another huge bite out of his pumpkin pasty, "You can have anything I bought, I doubt I'll be able to eat all of this."

"So Harry, I'm sure you've read in one of the history books, which house do you want to be in?" Hermione asked, now taking a bite from a pumpkin pasty, "You were right, this is really good! Back on topic, which house do you want to join - though I guess you don't choose as The Sorting Hat does that, at least from what I've read."

"Ravenclaw. I just don't feel I fit in with the other house types. Gryffindor requires courage and faith, which you can easily tell I lack. Slytherin is the house of the cunning, and I'm not exactly the sneakiest, secretive guy you'll find. I guess I could possibly become a Hufflepuff, I like to consider myself loyal and trusting, though I'd rather be a Ravenclaw, they're said to be the most successful in the studies and exams."

"I want to be in Gryffindor, I've heard that Dumbledore - the headmaster - was in that house when he attended Hogwarts, though I guess Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad. I hope we're in the same house, it'd be sad if I made a new friend and then not see him a lot for the rest of the year."

"I'm sure we'll be in same house, we're very alike. Have you learnt any charms or spells so far? You seem like the one that would prepare for a new school. I've learnt quite a few: the levitating charm, the locking spell and the unlocking charm."

"Cool! I only know the wand-lighting charm, the mending charm and the locking charm. I've also been practising the unlocking charm and the softening charm."

Harry laughed a bit, "I guess I've got worthy competition for the best student in the year. So, Hermione d'ya think you can teach me the mending charm? It'd help my life a lot with my tendency to break things and with the Dursleys."

"Dursleys?"

"My cousin, my aunt and my uncle."

"Oh. Well for your question, I'd be happy to teach you the charm, I'll even teach you the wand-lighting charm as a bonus. As long as you teach me the levitating charm and help me practise the unlocking charm." she then noticed that Harry's glasses were being held together by tape, making it a perfect example. She pulled out her wand and placed the tip just in front of his glasses, "Reparo!"

Harry's glasses started to glow a little before it repaired itself, looking as if they had just been bought, "Cool! You've got a deal!" Harry said extending his arm out, which Hermione shook. Harry picked up a pack of Bettie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and threw one of the beans in his mouth, "Ooh, chocolate flavoured jelly beans."

"Chocolate jelly beans? Can I have one?" she asked Harry, who gave her a brown coloured jelly bean. Her face crinkled as if she was about to be sick, "Coconut flavoured. I hate coconuts!"

"Must've given you a different one. I wonder what this red bean will be," he said, dropping one in his mouth and chewing on it, "HOT! HOT! HOT!" Harry kept breathing heavily as he kept breathing in and out, "Ghost peppers. I both love and hate them."

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The duo of eleven-year-olds was talking about one of their school books when the door suddenly opened, and a red-headed boy slid the door open.

"Hey, do you think I could sit next to you? The carriage I was in before has some snotty blood purity believer. I didn't mind at first but it got more and more irritating as time passed," the boy asked.

"I guess you can sit there, my name's Hermione Granger. What's yours?" Hermione said, a slight edge in her voice.

"My name's Ron Weasley. So have you two heard the rumours?" He inquired.

"I haven't heard any rumours from anyone. What is it?"

"Haven't you heard, Harry Potter's going to Hogwarts this year. Don't you know about him? Everyone's been buzzing about it."

"Oh, well I knew that. I mean he's right next to me."

Ron's eyes widened and his mouth became an 'o' shape, "You mean you're Harry Potter, you're the Boy-Who-Lived. You know you're the only one to ever survive the killing curse, and from You-know-who at that."

"You-Know-Who? Do you mean Voldemort?" Harry said deciding to join the conversation.

Ron gasped audibly, "You just said You-Know-Who's name. Don't you feel scared? No-one ever dares to say HIS name."

"Scared? If anything I find it easier to say Voldemort than You-Know-Who. It makes him sound like he's the devil himself or something."

"He's The Dark Lord, he's the closest living thing to the devil. He's taken more lives than any other wizard in the world!"

"Changing the topic from the person who murdered my parents, which house would you like to join Ron?"

"Gryffindor, all my brothers were in it and my parents were in it when they attended. But imagine if they put me in Slytherin, You-Know-Who was ion there. You?"

Harry was about to open his mouth before Hermione replied, "I and Harry want to either go in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw? It's not as bad as Slytherin, it's full of bookworms - and bookworms are people who waste their lives in books and don't make friends."

Hermione looked slightly offended for a moment but her face quickly returned to a neutral expression, "Oh, well I've read loads of books and I've made quite a few friends. And most say I'll have a successful future."

"Oh. Well anyway, what Quidditch team do you support?"

"I don't have any, never seen a match, or ever known a team. I've only known about the wizarding world for a few months and only know about Quidditch from what Hermione said from one of her books."

Ron was about to start babbling about the rules of Quidditch but then realised that Harry just mentioned knowing about it. "Oh," he said and an awkward silence arose.

Hermione opened her mouth and was about to say something when compartment door slid open and three boys entered. Harry felt like he'd seen one of them before.

"Is it true? There are loads of people down the train that have said that Harry Potter is in this compartment."

"Yep, that's me," Harry said, looking at the two boys next to the one who was speaking to him. They looked as if they were mindless gorillas, thick and mean.

"Well, my name is Draco Malfoy and I see you've made friends with a Weasley." Draco said, his voice dripping with venom when he said Weasley, "I've heard all about you Weasleys from my father: red hair freckles and extremely poor. He says their blood traitors. You see Harry soon you'll find out that wizards are classed on their parents. You've got purebloods, like you and I, half-bloods, who only have one parent from the wizarding world, and mud-bloods." he said, now with even more venom on the word mud blood, "You don't want to mix with blood traitors and mud-bloods Harry-"

"Let me guess, you want me to become part of your little blood purity group. Well, the answer is no. I see no problem with them, so I see no reason to degrade them. You just seem to think that if the great Harry Potter joins your group then there'll be less backlash."

Draco's face was tinted a slight pink, "You've made a new enemy Potter. And making this enemy will be your biggest mistake. I'll ask you again Potter. It'd be better for you to join me then to leave me." Draco waited for a reply but didn't receive one, "You've just made the worst mistake of your life Potter. And when you come crawling to me, begging for mercy, you'll realise it." And with that, he left.

"Well that was interesting, but anyway I think we're almost there. You better change into your school robes. I'll wait outside until you're done," she said as she left the compartment.

Harry looked outside, it was dark and the train felt like it was slowing a considerable amount. They both took off their jacket and put on their school robes.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train, it'll be taken to Hogwarts separately." a voice rung across the train.

Harry quickly picked up the things he hadn't eaten like last piece Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and a Liquorice wand that he hadn't eaten. He quickly realised that the Chocolate Frogs he bought had disappeared, but didn't think too much of it.

They both got off the train and joined the crowd on the dark, small platform, before hearing a familiar voice shout, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here. Follow me - any firs' years. Mind yer step now! Firs' years follow me."

Stumbling behind Hagrid, the first years all went down the dark, narrow path. Surrounding them on both sides was an empty darkness, that made Harry think they were in the middle of a forest.

"Ye all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called, "Jus' round the bend here."

Everyone gasped loudly once they saw Hogwarts. In front of them was a large, black lake. And on the other side was a large mountain, with a castle perched on it. They all got into groups of four and entered a boat before the fleet of boats sailed across the lake, all of the children looking at the castle towering over them as they got closer.

"Heads down!" Hagrid bellowed as they passed through a curtain of ivy, which hid a dark tunnel. Once they arrived at an underground harbour, they all walked up a flight of steps and crowded around large, Oak doors. The front doors to Hogwarts.

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 **By the way in the train scene, someone mentioned that Harry doesn't have the worst life he could. Hermione's just being empathetic here.**

 **Hope you like this story. Next chapter is out.**


	2. The Sorting

**Sorry for the delay but let's start the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I, like most people, don't own Harry Potter as all rights go to J.K Rowling**

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The door opened and a stern woman stood, wearing emerald-green robes.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said, making Professor McGonagall nod.

"Yes, thank you Hagrid. I'll take it from here." Professor McGonagall replied.

She pulled the door wide open, revealing an enormous hall. There was a marble staircase facing them at the other end of the Quirrell.

The group of first years walked across the flagged stone floor and were shown to an empty chamber of the hall, where they all huddled together.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, gaining the attention of the huddled first years, "The start-of-term banquet will be held shortly. However, before you can join the banquet you must be sorted into a house. The Sorting is an important ceremony, and the house you join will become a second family to you. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory and will spend your free time in your house common room. The names of these houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house was founded by a founder of Hogwarts: Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin. While you're at Hogwarts, your achievement will be rewarded by house points and any rule-breaking or misbehaviour will deduct a house point. By the end of the year, the house with the most amount of house points will receive the house cup. I hope you will become a credit to the house you are sorted to. I suggest you smarten up, you will be in front of the whole school while being sorted. I'll return when we're ready for you."

Harry turned to Ron, "How do they sort us into a house?"

"Some sort of test, at least that's what Fred said. It apparently it hurts a lot, though I think that's a joke."

Harry smiled, the school revision had definitely been useful. He had perfected at least a few of the spells and knew the theory of the Lumos charm from Hermione. Harry looked around, seeing the anxious, terrified faces of everyone else. He noticed that no one talked much except for Hermione, who was whispering the charms she'd learnt. Suddenly, there were several screams that caused Harry to jump. He quickly turned and saw several white, transparent figures entered the room. Then Harry realised they walked THROUGH the wall, Harry's spine chilled, they were ghosts.

"He gives all of us ghosts a bad name... Wait, what are all you kids doing here?" a ghost wearing ruffs and tights said, once noticing the group of first years.

"First Years!" another ghost, though this ghost looked more like a monk, said."About to be sorted I suppose." the monk-like ghost said, "I hope to see you in Hufflepuff."

"Move along, The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin," a stern voice said, causing the ghosts to disappear, "Now form a line and follow me."

Harry stood in front of Ron as they walked out of the chamber, across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. The hall was filled with thousands upon thousands of candles floating on top of the tables. There were glittering golden goblets, and plates stacked with food. At the top of the hall, a long table sat with all the professors were sitting. The group of first years were led to the top of the hall, halting into a line facing the other students - and occasional ghost dotted around. Harry looked up to see a velvety ceiling dotted with stars, which he remembered always looked like the sky above the castle from one of the school books. He also heard Hermione state the same fact behind him to some of the other students.

Harry noticed that Professor McGonagall had placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years silently, before placing a patched, frayed and extremely dirty witch's hat on top. Harry looked at the hat, this must've been a joke. What would he do with the hat? Harry rethought what he was meant to do with the hat, after all, this was the wizarding world, where you can summon fire and lift objects with a flick of a wand. But to Harry's surprise, the hat did the last thing he expected: it began to sing.

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 **(Insert Sorting Hat Song)**

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The whole hall - including the first years - burst into an applause, and all the first years, except Hermione and Harry, grinned.

"We've just got to try on the hat, that's better than any test Fred said," Ron whispered to him.

Harry was disappointed, he wanted to do a test, he wanted to use the knowledge he learnt from the books. He looked around to see Hermione frowning, most likely as disappointed as he was. Though before he could moan a bit more, the thought of which house he'd go to come back. From what he could remember from the sorting hat's song, He couldn't decide which house he'd go to. He - or he thought -  
could only fit into Ravenclaw and - possibly Hufflepuff. He didn't really have a real friend until today - so he couldn't really call himself loyal. And he simply didn't want to go to Slytherin - mostly for the fact his parent's murderer used to go there - and because almost every pupil who got sorted into Slytherin went dark, at least that's what Hagrid said.

He then noticed Professor McGonagall walking forwards, a long roll of parchment in hand.

"When I call your name, you must put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." The professor said, gaining everyone's attention, "Abbot, Hannah!"

A blonde-haired girl with pig-tails put on the hat, and a moment of silence passed before the sorting hat screamed "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right cheered and the blonde haired girl walked over to the Hufflepuff table. Harry also noticed that the monk-like ghost he saw before was waving at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted again, and the girl scuttled to the Hufflepuff table, sitting next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brown, Lavender!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" The table on the far left burst into applause, as this was the first new Gryffindor, and a few catcalls were heard coming from Ron's twin brothers.

"Bulstrode, Millicent!"

"SLYTHERIN!" This piqued Harry's interest, he wanted to see whether Slytherin actually deserved the negativity it was given and, surprisingly, it may. Most of the students from the table looked unpleasant or bored and, he wasn't sure if he was imagining it but he felt the sudden urge to vomit, just from the sight of them.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Harry quickly noticed that the hat took a different amount of time to decide which house the wearer of the hat was sorted too. Sometimes a minute whilst for others a moment.

"Granger, Hermione!" Harry looked at the stool seeing Hermione eagerly putting the hat on.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Harry cheered along with the Gryffindor table whilst Ron groaned. Harry smiled to himself: if Hermione could get into Gryffindor so could he.

"Neville, Longbottom!" The hat took what felt like an hour to decide.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Malfoy, Draco!" Draco walked over to the hat and put it on, the hat not even touching his head when it shouted.

"SLYTHERIN!" it, before Malfoy walked over to Crabbe and Goyle, who both looked as thick as they were before.

More names kept coming, though he forgot most of them. It felt like a while before he heard his name, "Potter, Harry!"

The entire hall went silent before half the hall started murmuring things like, "Harry Potter? Did she say Harry Potter?" or "The Harry Potter? The-Boy-Who-Lived?"

Harry walked over to the stool, putting on the hat seeing all the students looking intently at him.

Harry heard a small voice in his head say, "This is difficult. Smart definitely not a bad mind. A thirst to improve yourself and a lot of talent. You'd fit in any of the houses, though may I suggest Gryffindor or Slytherin. Which of the four do you choose Lord Potter?"

Harry looked confused on why the hat called him a lord but he dismissed it and thought, 'Gryffindor please.'

"Well then, GRYFFINDOR!" Harry took off the hat and walked over to the Gryffindor Table happy he got into the same house as Hermione. He didn't notice he received one of, if not the, loudest cheer. He did notice a tall boy that looked like Ron stand up and shake his hand vigorously, while the Weasley Twins started shouting, "We've got Potter! We've got Harry Potter!"  
Harry sat next to Hermione and started to talk with her, "When you were wearing the sorting hat did it talk to you?" Harry asked her, unsure if it was meant to.

"It talked to you too? I know we're in a world where you can levitate things with the flick of stick but a hat that could talk to you at about the same level of another human was a bit weird."

"I know right, it seemed like it was possessed or something. Something weirder was that it referred to me as 'Lord', do you have any idea why? I certainly don't."

Hermione expression changed and her mind started to race with different thoughts. Suddenly her eyes lit up and she Quirrell to explain her theory, "You said it called you Lord didn't you. That's... weird, only the head of a family or house is called a Lord. Did it say, Lord Potter?" Harry nodded and gestured for her to continue, "If the hat referred to you as Lord Potter, then it acknowledged you as the Head Of House Potter or the Lord Of House Potter. Harry, I suggest you that you go to Gringotts during the winter break and see what your status is in Wizengamot."

Harry looked confused, " Alright I'm going to interrupt you quickly for two reasons: one, what's Wizengamot; and two, how do you know all of this?"

"Well to answer your questions Harry, Wizengamot is like the court of the Wizarding World, any laws that are passed are voted for by each head of a house. They split them into five categories: a standard house (which has one vote); a noble house (which has two votes): an ancient House (which has five votes); and a most ancient and noble house (which has seven votes.) So far there are only seven most ancient and noble houses, though I couldn't find any of the names for the seven. And to answer your questions, reading and studying, I bought quite a few books from Diagon Alley so I'd be well versed in the Wizarding World. Oh look, that red-haired boy we met on the train's being sorted."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry and Hermione cheered along with the rest of the Gryffindor Table and the prefect of Gryffindor, stood up and clapped.

"Well done Ron! We knew you'd make it into Gryffindor," he said, as Ron sat on the seat next to Harry.

"What did you expect Percy, everyone in our family's been in Gryffindor."

"That is true, but still you could've ended up in Hufflepuff," Percy said before noticing that Professor McGonagall had rolled up the scroll and removed the sorting hat, "Dumbledore's about to start his speech be quiet!"

As Percy had thought an old man wearing half-moon glasses and had a flowing silver beard stood up, arms out, began to start his welcoming speech, "Welcome to a brand new year of Hogwarts! For those who don't know, I am Headmaster Dumbledore, and I'm here to welcome you to this wonderful new year. Now before we start the feast I have a few words to say. "He paused before continuing, " Please note, especially the first years, that all students are forbidden from going into the forest on the school ground. Secondly, I've been asked by the caretaker that no magic is performed between classes and in the corridors. Thirdly, Quidditch trails will be open for any second years and older on the second week of the term and anyone interested should contact Madam Hooch." A woman quickly stood waving her hand, before sitting down and letting the headmaster continued. "And thirdly I ask that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is off bounds, for anyone who wants to not die a painful death." He said, definitely not intending it to be a joke, "And finally I have a few words to start the banquet: Nitwit! Bludder! Oddment, Tweak!" He said before sitting down, everybody laughed or cheered, almost forgetting how serious the headmaster was being a few moments ago.

"Hey Hermione, D'ya think he's joking?" Harry asked, referring to the headmaster's statement about, the third-floor corridor.

"No clue, but I'd prefer not to find out," she said before her eyes widened at all the food that piled up on the plates in front of her, The foods varied from things like roast beef and chicken to sausages, steaks, lamb chops and strangely peppermint.

Harry quickly placed the foods that he wanted, which was practically everything onto his play. "Hey Hermione, could I study with you when we go to the Gryffindor Common Room, I know you were going to study anyway, so can I join?" Harry asked he, earning a sneer from Ron and a small smile from Hermione.

"Sure, I'm surprised you knew I was going to study for a while after the banquet but I guess it is quite clear that I'm studious. But sure, I'm going to read some of the school books, and you're welcome to join me."

"I didn't expect the Boy-Who-Lived to be a bookworm," Ron said, trying to get Harry's attention.

Harry shrugged it off and started to slice his steak when the ghost in the ruffs sighed sadly. "That looks quite good," the ghost said intriguing Harry.

"Can't you-"

"Eat? No, I am a ghost, after all, I don' need to eat though it doesn't mean I don't want to. I've heard the food in the banquets have improved quite a lot. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the resident ghost of Gryffindor tower, at your service."

"Sir Nicholas.. wait, are you Nearly Headless Nick?" Ron asked eagerly.

"I prefer Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, but yes I am," he said stiffly before a sandy-haired boy interrupted.

"How could a person be nearly headless?"

"Like this," he said sighing before tugging his ear, head falling onto his shoulders, only connected to his neck by a few tendrils. His head looked as if someone tried to behead him but didn't completely cut it off. "Anyway I hope all you new Gryffindors help us win the House Cup this year, Gryffindor's never gone so long without winning the cup. Slytherin's kept winning it, six years in a row in fact, and the Slytherin ghost, The Bloody Baron, has become unbearable," Nearly Headless Nick said, flipping his head back onto his neck.

Harry turned towards the Gryffindor Table and saw Malfoy sitting next to a ghost with a gaunt face and some silver bloodstains on his robe. Harry sniggered to himself, as he saw Malfoy wasn't pleased with his seating.

The food disappeared after a while and was replaced with different desserts from ice cream to apple pies and treacle tarts to rice pudding, jelly, doughnuts and chocolate eclairs. Harry took a few treacle tarts, which he enjoyed quite a bit, and watched as Hermione's sweet tooth started to show: she started taking bites out of the doughnuts, apple pies and a few eclairs. Harry laughed inwardly before looking up at the High Table and saw Hagrid drinking from his goblet, Professor McGonagall talking to Dumbledore and Professor Quirrel, who he'd met at Diagon Alley, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair and a hooked nose.

"Hey, Percy, who's Professor Quirrell speaking to?"

"That's Professor Snape, the Potions Professor; though everyone knows that he's unhappy with the role and's after Professor Quirrell's job, Quirrell is the Defence Against The Dark Arts Teacher."

"Oh," was all that Harry said before Professor Snape looked at him with a disdainful look and pain shot through his veins and into his scar. He screamed in agony, the pain he was feeling was more painful than anything he felt with the Dursley's. He grasped his scar and clutched onto it until the pain subsided. When the pain was gone he quickly noticed almost everyone in the Great Hall was staring at him.

"I'm okay," he said quietly before biting into a treacle tart, silently staring into his plate and the Great Hall was filled with chatter once more.

"Now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song," He said flicking his wand, causing a long ribbon with the song's lyrics on appearing out of nowhere. "Pick your favourite tune and off we go!"

* * *

 **(Insert Song because I'm too lazy to write it in)**

 **Hope You enjoy and sorry if it's an awkward ending but I'm not bothered to write the rest in. Well, see you all in the next chapter.**


	3. Classes and a new friend

**The red sparks charm and the green sparks charm aren't directly mentioned in the books but are in the video games (e.g WonderBook: The Book Of Spells)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

Harry woke up in a four-poster, blindly swinging his arm to find his glasses. After they sang the school anthem ended (which was at various times), the first year Gryffindors left the main hall and walked up a large marble staircase until (at the end of the staircase) they found a painting of a fat lady. When they reached the painting they were told the password (Caput Draconis), which made the painting slide to reveal the hole behind it. Once they exited the hole they were in the Gryffindor Common room, Percy led them to the boys' dormitory where five four-poster beds where the boys fell asleep.

Once Harry had grabbed his glasses, he looked at the foot of his bed where Ron stood smiling, "Hello Ron, why'd you wake me up?"

"Breakfast has started. Thought I'd wake a friend up before they miss the food... We are friends, right? It's 8:30 and breakfast started thirty minutes ago. If you're not in the Great Hall by 8:40, you miss all the good food."

Harry smiled, "Yeah, we're friends. And thanks for waking me up."

Ron left and Harry got out of bed, changing as fast as he could and grabbing the school books on his pillow. He then exited the Dormitory and The Common Room before going down the marble staircase towards the Great Hall. Once he walked in, the hall burst into whispers but Harry tried to ignore them and looked around the Gryffindor table to find Hermione, who was reading a book.

Harry walked over to her and sat down, placing some food on his plate, "Hello Hermione, what are you reading?" Hermione's eyes left the book and met his, "Just one of the Charms books, I thought I should read a little about the levitating charm. Make it a little easier for you to teach me."

Harry smiled, "I'll do the same when we're back in the Common Room, maybe we could even study together."

She giggled, "I'd like the sound of that. Anyway, have you got your schedule yet?"

"Not yet, have you? "

"I have and I've got Defence Against The Dark Arts first if you're wondering," the brunette said as Percy walked towards them with a parchment, "Here comes your schedule."

Hermione guessed correctly once Percy stood next to them, he dropped the parchment in front of Harry saying, "This is your schedule for your first year: it has your classes, the time you have to be at a class, the professor teaching that class and the house that will also be working with you (if two houses do the same class together.)"

"Thanks, Percy," Harry said as Percy walked away, "It looks like we've both got Defence Against The Dark Arts. Lucky coincidence. Mind if I check your schedule?"

Hermione shrugged and gave him another parchment which he quickly analysed, "We've both got the exact same classes. Hey Ron, do you know how Hermione and I have the same schedule?"

"Oh, didn't you know that all the Gryffindor first years have the same schedule? I asked Seamus to ask the professors where each class was." the ginger-haired boy said before telling them the locations of each class.

"Thanks for telling me," Harry said, having a forkful of eggs, "So Hermione, which class are you looking forward to?"

"Definitely either Defence Against The Dark Arts, Charms or Transfiguration. They just seem so fantasy-like. Which one are you looking forward to?" Hermione asked him.

"The same as you. Defence Against The Dark Arts and Charms seem like they'd teach us the most. Plus they seem like the easiest to grasp. I also look forward to Potions but to a lesser scale as the teacher doesn't seem the most friendly."

Ron leant over to them and whispered, "Snape's definitely not friendly. He's Slytherin to the core. Fred and George say he's the worst teacher to ever come to Hogwarts."

Hermione had an intrigued expression, "What do you mean by 'Slytherin to the core' he is the Head of House after all."

"I told you on the train, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named went there. And every person that is sorted into Slytherin turns dark."

"I'm sure not _every_ Slytherin became dark. There'd have to have been at least one that didn't." Hermione reasoned but Ron ignored her and just started to eat his food.

"Well, I guess we've got a little left until class starts. Hey Harry, Do you want to help me revise the Defence Against The Dark Arts book. It'd give us a leg up on everyone else." Hermione asked, hoping he'd say yes.

"Why not? May as well get as far as we can," Harry said, taking the last bite out of a piece of toast

"Alright," Hermione said putting the Charms book away and grabbing another, "So Harry, do you want to learn them defensive then offensive or just focus on one"

"Let's alternate between the two," Harry said, grabbing the same book Hermione was holding, "Let's do the knockback jinx first, seems the simplest."

"Okay found the page. The incantation's _Flippendo_ , right?" Hermione asked, grabbing her wand and pointing it at a piece of toast.

"Yep, you go first," Harry said pointing his wand at a sausage, "Let's send it downwards so we don't make a mess."

"Okay," she said pointing the wand from a different angle, " _Flippendo_." Almost every first year Gryffindor's head was looking at Hermione as she squealed in delight, "Yes, one spell successful. Your turn, Harry."

Harry aimed his wand at the toast, sweating slightly at all the attention he was receiving, " _Flipppendo_." To his surprise, the toast didn't move a few centimetres, like it did with Hermione, but it was thrown off the table and onto the floor.

"That was surprising," Hermione said, before laughing quietly, " I guess my competition might give me a run for my money."

Harry was about to say something when most of the students stood up, grabbed all their things and started walking in different directions. "It looks like we've got to go to class," Harry said looking at the several clocks that read, '9:00.'

The Gryffindor first years grabbed their items and started walking towards their first class with Professor Quirrell.

* * *

Professor Quirrell's class was one of the biggest letdowns, Harry had ever had. The room smelt of garlic (to ward off Romanian vampires was the answer they got when they asked); the class were barely taught anything (other than a few things about Quirrell and one of the spells Harry knew); and he smelt of an odd smell (which while not actually affecting the lesson itself, distracted him slightly.) The two hours of Defence Against The Dark Arts breezed past.

Then came lunch, which was mostly spent studying for Herbology by Harry and Hermione. Herbology was better than the previous lesson, as actually, they learnt a few things. Once they arrived in the greenhouse, they were tasked with transplanting plants from one pot to another by Professor Sprout. It taught them a few things, but they didn't learn as much Harry or Hermione hoped.

After Herbology, the Gryffindors first years received some free time, which Harry and Hermione used to teach each other the charms they wanted to learn. Harry taught Hermione the unlocking charm, using the lock on his trunk as a target, which earned him a hug. After Hermione learnt the unlocking charm, they both looked through the Defence Against The Dark Arts book and looked for the next spell to attempt. They wanted to learn at least two of the charms/spells before trying to master one. Their eyes fell on the red sparks charm and the green sparks charm (which sounded simple enough. The two grabbed a few parchments and trained their wand on a piece.

" _Vermillous_ ," the duo said and two streaks of vermilion shot out of their wand and almost missed the parchment, which was burned after the spell.

"That was slightly more potent than I thought it would be," Harry said, walking towards the parchment before levitating it and throwing it away. After a few more attempts with both of the spells, the two eleven-year-olds started reading the potions book (trying to give Snape a harder time to find flaws.) As the name suggested, the book One Thousand Magical Herbs And Fungi was incredibly long and by the time dinner came they'd only studied (and memorised) one-hundred and twenty-four pages out of the six-hundred plus that were in the book.

When Harry and Hermione entered the great hall for dinner, a few of the Gryffindors asked where they'd been for the past few hours. When they said they had studied for the past hours, Ron sniggered whilst the others either had a look of admiration or a look of shock and disbelief. The two shrugged and ate dinner, occasionally asking each other a test question.

The next day, both Harry and Hermione woke up at 8:00 - using most of the time they'd spent studying for the upcoming charms lesson.

"Hey Harry, I know this is a random question but why do you study with me. I know there are other boys to talk to so why do you hang out with me?" Hermione asked, hoping Harry wouldn't take it offensively."

"I guess it's because this is my first real chance to get a career and be successful. I told you on the train that my aunt and uncle didn't like it when I got higher scores than Dudley. As a result, I started failing classes on purpose so I wouldn't get hit. However, now that I'm in Hogwarts and am embracing the wizarding world, I can actually try and become the best that I can be. And anyway you're my first friend, I wouldn't want you to be lonely." Harry said, grinning as his eyes returned back to the book.

Hermione blushed slightly before she noticed the hall was starting to fill in. Her eyes shifted to the clocks that read '8:40.' After fifteen minutes of test questions and a bit of practice with the levitating charm, Harry and Hermione joined the crowd of Gryffindors that were walking towards the Charms classroom.

Charms class was the class Harry'd been waiting for - they actually learnt something. Professor Flitwick, who was a small, short man, was knowledgeable about his subject and helped them understand some of the more difficult theories in the Charms book. The main bulk of the class was mostly looking through the book, being told which parts should be prioritised and which bits can be held back for later.

When lunch came, Harry and Hermione discussed how much better Charms was than the other two classes. The duo decided to copy what they did yesterday, using the red sparks a few more times. She noticed that Harry's streaks of sparks were more powerful than hers, whilst her's were more precise and accurate. The two tried the green spark charm after (because why not?)

" _Verdimillus_ ," Hermione said as a green streak struck the parchment, causing more damage than her red sparks and being more accurate.

" _Verdimillous_ ," Harry said and a green spark shot through the air, barely striking the parchment. Harry looked confused as the Green Spark was more offensive for Hermione whilst the Red Spark was more offensive for him.

The duo started revising the next hundred or so pages of the Potions book, before testing each other.

* * *

As Harry waited in front of Potions class, he thought about the other classes they'd had that week.

On Wednesday morning, they'd had History Of Magic, easily the most boring out of the classes. The class was taught by the ghost Professor Binns, who kept the bulk of the class always about a Goblin War. The class was a fight to stay focused, and even Hermione admitted that.

At midnight on Wednesday, the Gryffindors had to go to the Astronomy Tower for their Astronomy lessons (which was one of the better classes.) For most, it was difficult for the group of eleven-year-olds and twelve-year-olds to wake up. However, it was as easy for Harry to get up at twelve a.m as it was to get up at eight.

Transfiguration was the most challenging, taught by Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor. They were tasked with transforming a match into a needle, not the hardest. Both Harry and Hermione were most nervous for this class, the books made it look so complicated. Most of the other students seemed to be as well as almost every other person in the class were unable to transform the match.

Harry noticed that his fellow first-years were entering the classroom and he followed. Harry sat next to Hermione, as they both noticed Malfoy sneering at him. Harry, deciding to ignore the Slytherin's insults, just placed the potions book on his desk and did a last-minute revision. Even though he remembered most of the book (from the results of the tests the duo did on each other), Harry looked nervous. At 10 am sharp, Professor Snape entered the class ( completely ignoring all the stares he received, before standing in front of his desk and proceeded with roll call. When he came onto Harry's name, he sneered and shot a look of disdain, "Harry Potter - our newest celebrity."

Harry just stared into Snape's eyes quietly as all the Slytherins burst into laughter, except for a female blonde first year who just sat quietly. Harry tried to think of her name but was interrupted when Snape finished roll call and went on about the beauty of making potions. When he was finished, the greasy haired man looked at Harry before asking, "Now Potter! What would I get if I add a powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

The question seemed to have taken him by surprise as he thought of the answer, "Draught Of Living Death, sir."

Snape shot him a surprised and malicious look, " Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"The stomach of a goat, sir."

Snape had a desperate look on his face,"What is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"

"They're the same plant, sir," Harry asked, irritated by Snape's barrage of questions.

"Under what name?"

"Aconite, sir."

"What is..." Snape continued asking questions, much to the irritation of Harry. Snape appeared to have gotten the idea Harry studied as he stopped asking the green-eyed boy questions."One point to Gryffindor for Mr Potters preparedness," Snape said, his face telling the class he was unhappy, "Now, today we will be making a potion that cures boils. You'll be working in pairs that I've chosen, to create the potion..." The potions professor had paired Ron with Hermione (much to her and Ron's annoyance) whilst Harry was paired with a girl called Daphne Greengrass (the blonde from Slytherin that didn't laugh with Snape.)

Each student proceeded with making the potions when Neville suddenly burst into screams of pain, with boils bursting onto his face, as he fell on the floor next to what looked like a melted cauldron. Professor Snape started ridiculing Neville before turning his attention to Harry, who was on the other side of the room, "Potter! Why didn't you warn him about when to put the quills in. Did you think it'd make you look better if he failed? Five points are taken off of Gryffindor for your selfishness!"

Again, the Slytherins burst into laughter, except for Daphne who had a calm look on her face. The class continued quietly until it was finished and they all gave Snape their potions for him to assess. As Harry and Hermione exited the class the class, Daphne ran towards them.

"I'm sorry about Snape, apparently he picks on all the Gryffindors and is bias with some of the darker Slytherins like that Malfoy prat. That ponce always gives me this look," the blonde said shuddering, "Anyway I noticed how good you were with potions, and thought you could help me with them in the Library."

At the mention of a library, Hermione looked intrigued, "Where is the library? I read that it some of the most informative books about the magical world. I didn't see it when we were moving between the classes."

Daphne looked confused before telling her where the library where it was, "Anyway I'm guessing you're a studious person. Did you help Harry learn?" When Hermione nodded, Daphne smiled, "Can us three studies together at the Library after Lunch. I hope we can be can be an exception with the 'Snake and Lion rivalry.'"

"I think it'd be nice to be friends with a Slytherin and so far you're the best I've seen. Plus, you might have different techniques to help us learn from the school books. What do you think Hermione?" Harry asked the brunette, who was smiling at the blonde.

"Seems like a good idea. You seem like a great friend and there's no reason to turn down a new friend... unless that new friend is a racist bully." Hermione said, adding the last part on after she remembered their encounter with a certain blonde ponce.

Daphne smiled, "We need to go to lunch now. I'll see you at the library at 1 o'clock." Daphne smiled at them quickly before running towards the Great Hall.

Harry looked over to Hermione, "I think she'll be a great friend." The duo followed her back to the great hall.

* * *

 **Sorry for the lateness but I've been sucked into Earthbound (LVL 100 ON Ness and Skye before Giygas) and soon Mother 3. See you in the next chapter.**


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